By VANESSA LANGDON
News Editor
A petition has been circulated and a rally is planned for this Friday at 9 a.m. Members of the Saint Rose community are not pleased with how the College’s administration is handling the current fiscal dilemma.
The concerned students, faculty, and staff want to preserve the academic integrity of the College. The administration are cutting faculty and eliminating and reducing the funding of many academic program. Specifically, the programs in the liberal arts and education sectors are in the most danger.
According to Lisa Thomson, the vice president for public relations and strategic communications at Saint Rose, the school is reviewing the academic programs to ensure that the students are provided with the programs that they want and need to graduate prepared for the global economy.
“We must provide the programs students need today, not the programs they once needed. We are looking at expanding academic programs that current and prospective students are asking for and making changes in those programs in which enrollment is small and declining,” said Thomson. “To do this, we will need to shift resources from no-growth or low-growth programs so that we can invest in the programs our students want and need most.”
Thomson wants to assure students that if their programs are affected because of the cuts that they will still be able to complete their undergraduate or graduate certificates or degrees.
She said that the administration is considering the options and that faculty would be treated well.
“Any faculty who are affected by changes in our academic program will receive 12 months’ notice of termination or non-reappointment,” said Thomson. “Affected faculty also will be eligible to teach in other programs in which they are qualified. The College will continue to treat faculty with fairness, dignity and respect.”
Thomson stressed that no decisions have yet been made and that is what the movement is all about – impacting the upcoming decisions. President Stefanco was not available for comment prior to press time.
Saint Rose junior, Christina Romeo, became involved with the movement to fight against the plans put forth by the College after speaking with members of the faculty tabling in the commuter lounge in the Events and Athletics center a few weeks ago.
“They talked to me about what has been happening here at the College, and although I didn’t know about the nitty-gritty details beforehand…I knew there was something going on here at Saint Rose,” said Romeo. “I knew that something shady was happening but I didn’t know what. It’s as if the whole demeanor of the College has shifted since the beginning of this semester and I just didn’t know what it was. The professors at the table put everything in perspective to me, and I knew right then that I had to do something about it.”
Since that meeting Romeo has been a student voice for the movement. She advised the professors to contact the President of SA and to speak to the SA members at the next meeting. But after the faculty members spoke with the SA members at a meeting Romeo did not notice any change.
“I thought that having them speak to an audience of people that care about our school and are leaders on campus would stimulate something,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting anything immediate, but when days were starting to pass and time was wearing thin…I had to do something.”
She has since created an online petition for students that eventually included parents and prospective students who are worried about their education. While she felt very strongly about the issue Romeo wanted to make sure that the feeling was wide spread on campus. An SA Board member and her roommates also made a hard copy petition that Romeo will cross reference with the online version to ensure that there is no repetition.
Her end goal for the petition is to stop the cuts but also to open the eyes and minds of the Saint Rose students. It took Romeo roughly two hours to create the online petition as she strived to get the wording just right to properly convey their purpose. She also checks the website to make sure that everything is working properly.
“Students need to know that their education here is dramatically going to be shifting in a month, and although President Stefanco has sent us emails…she hasn’t delved into the real issues,” Romeo said. “The administration has been beating around the bush and we need to know what’s really happening.”
In emails and Facebook posts to the College community Stefanco wrote about her tough decisions.
“This financial challenge, combined with our need to meet the changing expectations of current and future students, has led Saint Rose to review its academic programs,” Stefanco wrote. “Although no final decisions have been made, we expect to shift resources from no-growth or low-growth programs so that we can invest in and grow the programs our students want and need most.”
Romeo is not afraid to fight for the school she fell in love with. She has never petitioned before in her life and has described the process as “a rewarding whirlwind.” But she said she is ready now to make direct action.
“I will go to the ends of the earth to save the academic integrity of Saint Rose, the professors here at the College, and preserve the true Saint Rose Difference.”
The professors are the backbone of the College according to Romeo and she feels she owes them for raising her up in ways she never imagined.
“Without the professors here, specifically with my experience with the English Department, I wouldn’t have grown intellectually and interpersonally,” she said. “I applied to Saint Rose purely because I knew this school cared about academics, had a strong liberal arts foundation and saw the importance of being a well rounded, critical thinker and that the professors here cared about the students.”
Freshman at the College Samuel Lund started the Facebook page that has been used by students to spread the word about the petition and rally.
“I became involved because I came to this school for being a liberal arts school,” said Lund. “With the planned program cuts to ‘save’ money, the school plans on transitioning from a liberal arts school to a STEM school, because they hope to gain admission growth.”
Lund like Romeo is wants to preserve the Saint Rose he chose to attend.
“I can’t do it alone, so the best way to stop these cuts is to spread the word to the students, who will hopefully come together to stop it,” he said.
Lund and Romeo’s work helped to alert Kaleb Catricala about the movement.
“It’s important for the administration to know what the students think about the changes they’re trying to make to the College. The students and professors at Saint Rose have a unique relationship, and coming together to fight these changes proves that we have something special here,” Catricala said.
He is concerned about the loss of the heart and soul of the school as programs are slimmed down and professors let go in lieu of reducing administration positions and salaries.
“Saint Rose is such an incredible place because of the campus community – the students, professors, and faculty – not because of administration we never see,” said Catricala. “Have I had positive interactions with administration? Absolutely. But it’s the professors that I work with on a regular basis that have made my education and my Saint Rose experience so positive.”
Alumni of the College, Christopher Surprenant has heard from friends and past professors still at Saint Rose about the issues and feels the school he loves is changing.
“During my four years at Saint Rose, the campus had a certain energy to it. Students were engaged and excited about what went on around the College, and everyone knew everyone to some degree,” said Surprenant. “From what I’ve gathered from friends on campus, that same energy isn’t as high lately because of all of the issues surrounding the financial status of the college.”
He is now looking to earn his master’s degree and has Saint Rose on his list of options. He would love to return to campus but if accepted he would have to consider the decision.
“Setting aside the financial difficulties, it concerns me that the faculty I grew to respect and learn from during my undergrad may no longer be present because of cuts. I don’t know that my experience would be the same the second time around,” Surprenant said.
While he cannot attend the rally in person he plans to support the cause through writing letters to both President Stefanco and the Board of Trustees. Surprenant wants to remind the President and the Board what he believes the true “Saint Rose Difference” is.
“I want them to know that Saint Rose is supposed to be a small school. It’s supposed to be a place where your class sizes are small and you’re not just a number. It’s a place that is personal and dependable, and most of that comes from the amazing people who work there.”
Those people, the faculty, he said are not just professors but colleagues and friends. He found out about the movement from a professor he had while a student at Saint Rose. He and the professor have kept in contact since he graduated in 2014 and is helping him with his graduate school applications.
“Saint Rose is not some machine that turns out cookie-cutter graduates from large programs. It is a community that values the fact that it is small in size, and large in generosity, compassion, and thrives on the close-knit feel it has developed over the years,” said Surprenant. “Without those characteristics, Saint Rose will become just another ho-hum liberal arts college. Based on my personal experience, I can’t ever imagine that happening.”
While he feels strongly about the issues he doesn’t want to cast blame, but to help enact change.
“The purpose of my letter would not be to point a finger and shake my fist. I want them to know how much the true ‘Saint Rose Experience’ meant to me, and that future students deserve that same experience.”
He plans to reach out to those he know from his days at Saint Rose to encourage them to attend the rally, write letters, and voice their support.
“The college is here to serve our students. They are the single most important stake holders in plans that are being developed. As such, they should be heavily involved in determining what kinds of changes occur,” said Bradley Russell, an adjunct professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the College. “We should be developing engaged students that have a say in the kind of college that they are attending, what programs are offered and how our resources are used. That will only happen if students step up and demand to be heard on this very important issue.”
The group will be rallying in front of the Administration building at 1000 Madison Ave. at 9 a.m. when the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees will meet to receive recommendations about which programs will be cut and which faculty members will be fired.
“I hope that the Board of Trustees and administration listen to the many student and alums calling for them to halt their plans,” said Russell. “Their voices are critical and to date the communications that they have received in response to their efforts have not shown any real willingness to stop or even slow their top down planning.”
Russell believes that students are the key constituency at this school and that their concerns are valid and should be taken seriously, not simply brushed off with polite but dismissive emails.
“The fact that there is a rally organized by alumni, students, faculty, and other local organizations should send a signal to the president and the Board that they are in the wrong. Including the people that are affected by major decisions is not only common courtesy, but common sense,” said Surprenant. “Saint Rose has always been a close community, and it should continue to operate as a community. It’s important that we remember our roots so future students can have the same great experience we were all fortunate enough to receive.”
